KOSOVO 1999, JERUSALEM WHEN?
To my readers: I have posted some critical information only in my comments section. You may want to read those along with this article. Thanks!
Constance
"Why, those entangling foregn alliances are good for you!" exclaimed Javier Solana in accepting a 1999 Christian Herter Foreign Policy Award,in Boston, Massachusetts. Solana was referring to George Washington's Farewell Message to Americans.
It takes a lot of "cheek" to come into a country and mock its national icons. It was no small demonstration of his self-confidence that he said what he did. Was there a basis in fact for it?
In that same speech, Solana confided that he had exclusive authority to make military decisions for NATO and he possessed that authority since January 30th, 1999. "I don't intend to exercise it without checking in with the others, but nevertheless, the power is mine and mine alone," said he.
Solana indeed had an unusual grant of power from NATO. Usually the Secretary General of NATO plays a ministerial role, taking direction from its constituent members and then passing along that direction to the mlitary operatives. He was later to get unusual powers from European countries with equally unusual bill numbers!
Madeline Albright noted on her State Department home page, "Solana has the power and has had it since January 30th [1999]. We are speaking with one voice through Javier Solana."
Much of my research has been done the "poor man's way" -- via television and the internet. Fortunately, if used appropriately, both give a much more accurate window on the world. On Sunday, March 21, 1999, I awakened with "the mother of all migraines." I planned to dress for church, but it was clear I was going nowhere in that condition. As I was nursing my headache, waiting for the Vanquish (my favorite headache remedy) to kick in, my husband switched on our bedroom TV to "Sunday Morning," the CBS news program that airs weekly from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Midway through the program, there was an unusual interruption: "We interrupt this program to bring you an important announcement," said the acting program host. "Javier Solana, the Secretary General of NATO has just announced that the bombing of Yugoslavia may start as soon as the next few hours."
As soon as the headache sufficiently lifted, I did not finish dressing. In fact it was one of those headaches that was to be off and on for the day – I stayed in pajamas. I did not go to Church. Instead, I went downstairs to my basement computer and learned that all NATO nations were unanimously speaking with one empowered voice of their Secretary General. The NATO tail was literally wagging the dog!
I stayed in all that Sunday. That night, March 21, 1999, when millions were in church for Sunday night services, President Clinton came on national television. He talked about the incipient bombings. I was waiting for him to say something to the effect that "this is what WE have decided to do," . . . "this is what WE have decided would be in the best interests of the GLOBAL COMMUNITY" or some such phraseology. Those words were never used. Instead he sad, I AGREE WTH JAVIER SOLANA'S DECISION TO DO THIS." Interestingly, few Americans, including the more sophisticated media ever bothered to say, "WHO'S JAVIER SOLANA?!!"
President Clinton also made several pointed references in that speech saying that he felt it terrible that the Yugoslavians were doing whatever they were supposed to have been doing "for religious reasons."
Kosovo was clearly the religious center of the Serban Orthodox Church. It was lost to Turkish Moslem interests for many centuries. Not until the WW I era, was it regained by the Orthodox Serbs. It is sacred ground to the Serbs -- the equivalent of Jerusalem to the Jews -- their long-lost spiritual homeland. It similarly parallels the meaning of Mecca to the world Moslems, Vatican City to Catholics, and Salt Lake City to Mormons.
Interestingly, the focus for condemnation of claimed Serbian behavior was religious. President Clinton repeatedly said, "It's horrible that they are doing this for religious purposes."
It will be interesting to watch that Kosovo precedent as the negotiations over the Middle East and Jerusalem continue. I note with no small degree of interest that other players: Colin Powell, Senator George Mitchell, Kofi Annan, et al have come and gone. Javier Solana has been the only seeming constant in this process and he has been on board at least since 1991 when he helped coordinate the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference co-chaired by President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Gorbachev.
I can't help but wonder if there should be a sign at Doug Coe's and/or Paul N. Temple's Ivanwald or "The Christian Embassy" in Washington, D.C. reading "Javier Solana slept here." I now suspect he may well have. Everybody else -- from the Dali Lama through Michael Jackson -- did!
